Fire door



Fab 2; 1932, s. P $MURR FIRE DOOR Filed 001;. 22, 1927 2 SheetsSheet l 5127200065 @lZZl/rf S. P. SMURR Feb 2, 1932.

FIRE DOOR Filed Oct. 22. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 &

Patented Feb. 2, 1932 PATENT QFFICE SAMUEL P. SM'URR,,OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS FIRE DOOR Application filed October 22, 1927. Serial No. 227,876.

7 My invention relates to fire doors of the rolling shutter type, and has for its object improvements in devices of that kind.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the device secured to a wall and with the curtain orshut ter rolled up;

Fig. 2 is a away; V

Fig.3 is a central longitudinal section of the operating parts, but with thejcurtain removed;

, Fig. 4: is a front, elevation ofthe curtain supporting spool detached, together with one slat of a curtain resting on the spool;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the spool at an enlarged scale and showing the first .or top slat of the curtain connected thereto;

Fig. 6 is an elevation of Fig. 5; i I

Fig. 7 shows the upper end of the curtain guide with means for stopping the unrolling of the curtain; 7 4

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view corresponding to Fig. 1 showing the gearing in full line and other parts in dottedlines; 1

Fig. 9 is an elevation of the index plate detached; and

. Fig. 10 is a partial section on line 10-10 of Fig. 3.

Secured to the wall 11 at each side of the doorway are certain angle irons 12 which furnish guide slots for the edges of the curtain, and secured to the upper ends of these angle irons are brackets 13 which support the working apparatus. On the brackets 1311s a hood 14 which encloses the parts between the brackets.

Supported in roller bearings in the brackets is a curtain-carrying spool composed of gears 15, a barrel 16 and curtain-holding collars 17. The barrel is secured to the inner hubs of the gears by the screws 18, and the entire spool is supported by the outer hubs of saidgears resting in the bearings of brackets 13.

Supported to turn in the hub of the left front elevation partly broken i right.

hand gear. is a shaft 19, one end of which extends beyond the bearing to the left, and the other end of which terminates inside of the barrel short of the hub of the gear 15 at the Secured to the inner end of shaft 19 is a collar 20, the sole purpose of which is to retain the shaft centrally in'the barrel when one turns with respect to the other. i

Secured to the shaft 19 adjacent tothe collar 20 is anothercollar 21. A. spring 22 has one end secured to the collar 21 and the other endsecured to the hub 23 of the left hand gear 15. A' spacing tube 24 surrounds the shaft 19 and is located between the collar 21 and the hub 23. Its purpose is to stretch the spring 22 so that its coils will not be in con tact with each other. It will be evident that the spring 22 may be wound or unwound by holding the barrel stationary and turning the shaft, or by holding the shaft stationary and turning the barrel.

' Secured to the outer end of the shaft 19 is an index plate 25 having a long'hub 26, the outer surface of which is threaded. On the outer edge ofthe plate 25 are bosses 26 which are drilled, tapped and counterbored.

.In one of these bosses is a screw 27, but the bosses are all alike so that the screw 27 may be inserted in any one of them.

.. 'Pivoted at 28 (Figs. 1 and 8) on the left bracket 13 is a lever 29, and secured to the same bracket is a smaller bracket 30 on which is pivoted a hook 31 arranged to hold the lever 29 inan elevated'position. A bell-crank arm 32 of hook 31 has a weight 33 on its end, and a chain having a fusible link 34: therein supports said weight. If a fire should melt this fusible link the weight 33 will fall and release the hook 31, whereupon the leverv29 will fall.

On the lever 29 is a projection 35 arranged to fit into the counterbored part of the hole in any boss26 of plate-25 when the lever 29 is in its elevated position, but said projec tion is released from such connection when the lever 29 falls. On the rear end of lever 29 is a projection 36 (Fig. 8) which is carried adjacent to the index plate when the lever 29 falls. In this position, the end projection 36 lies in the path of the screw 27 when the index plate is turned in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 8.

Mounted upon the threaded hub of the index plate 25 is a gear 37 having the interior of its hub threaded to match the threads on the hub of the index plate. It will be evident that when either the gear 37 or the index plate is turned with respect to the other the gear 37 will travel axially inward or outward ac cording to the direction in which the turning occurs.

On the index plate is a boss 38, and on the gear 37 is a boss 39, both being of a similar radial distance from the axis of the shaft 19. When the gear 37 is at its inner position with respect to the index plate, these bosses have the relationship to each other shown in Figs. 3 and 10. When the gear 37 has moved outward on the hub of the index plate, the two bosses are clear from each other. The lap of these two bosses on each other (Fig. 10) is a trifle less than the pitch of the screw on the hub of the index plate, so that one turn of the gear 37 on the thread-ed hub of the indefic plate will release the bosses from each ot er.

0n the upper part of the left hand bracket 13 is a boss which serves as a bearing for a short shaft 40, on the ends of which are secured pinions 41 and 42 which engage gears 15 and 37. The gears and pinions are of different sizes so that when gears 15 and 37 are both moving, gear 1.5 moves at a less angular velocity than does gear 37 The collars 17 are made in halves and are clamped to the barrel 16 by bolts 43. This is so that these collars can be put on or removed from the barrel 16 after it has been secured to the gears. The collars form the direct means for securing the curtain to the barrel.

The two halves of a collar, when secured in position, have their outer surface forming a spiral, the step of which is at the middle of one-half as shown in Fig. 5. At the point where this step occurs is a boss 44 for receiving a screw 45, and on each side of this boss are notches 46 and 47 for receiving the flanges of a channel 48. The curtain. is made of a series of similar slats hinged together, the upper slat of which is shown at 49 in Figs. 5 and 6. The parts are so arranged that the bend which forms part of the hinge connecting one slat to another, in the first slat of the curtain, fits into the space between the boss 44 and notch 47, and is held in place by the channel 48 serving as a clamp actuated by the screw 45.

Slat-bearing rings with a spiral contour have been used before, but I do not know of such rings being made in the form of collars which can be put upon or removed from a bar rel when that barrel is supported in its bear ings. Also, heretofore, the top slat has been secured to the rings by screws passing through holes drilled in the slat and tapped in the ring. Such construction is not interchangeable. By clamping the collars in any conven- V ient positions in line on the barrel, and clamping the first slat of the curtain to the collars, the curtain may be adjusted longitudinally on the barrel without the drilling of holes. Also, there is simplification in erection and repairs. I

In Fig. 7 part of a guide slot 50 for one edge of the curtain is shown. 'At the upper end of each slot the flanges 51 and 52 are flared out as shown, and one part of one flange is connected through an angle iron 53 with the adjacent corner of the hood14. A slat 54 not far from the first slat 49 has secured to its ends castings 55 which fit into the flared ends of the flanges 51 and 52. This construction serves as a stop which has several functions. It prevents a complete unrolling of the curtain which would result in distorting the slat 49 which is clamped to the spool. It prevents a falling of the curtain in case slat 49 became loose ordisconnected. The castings 55 are so located with respect to the lower edge of the curtain that Y they stop thed'escent of the curtain'just as, or just after, the lower edge comes into con tact with the-floor. They thus serve to suspend the curtain in case all'other things fail. And by suspending the curtain at an'upper part it prevents curtain sagging with consequent binding: of theedges of'the curtain in the guides 50.

Referring back to the spool illustrated in Fig. 4, itwill be seen that the slats of the curtain rest uponthe edges of the collars 1'7 as shown at 56. The end flanges of the spool are formed by the gears 15 which have their inner faces slightly beveled as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This bevel corresponds to the bevel on the flanges of a spool used for thread, but is very much less in extent. The length of the slats which form the curtain is a little less than the distance between the gear flanges 15, and these flanges serve as guides to prevent the edges of the curtain rubbing against stationary guides and inside face of brackets when being raised or lowered. In automatically operated curtains of the kind here involved, it is important to avoidstationary lateral guides for the edges of the curtain, as the friction caused by lateral strain may prevent the curtain from falling in case of a fire.

After the parts are erected as shown in Fig. 3, the upper slat of the curtain is attached as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. When the spool is turned a short distance so as to give a start in the Winding of-the curtain,

the bottom slat of the curtain is supposed to be resting on the floor. I

In this position, the index plate is turned to wind the spring 22 thru the turning of the shaft 19 and collar 21, the other end of the spring being secured to the spool and held stationary by the weight of the unrolled curtain. By the time that the spring is wound sufficiently to balance the weight of the curtain in its lowest position, the lever 29 is raised to cause its projection 35 to enter the nearest boss 26 on the index plate, and the lever 29 is looked in its upper position thru the agency of the hook 31 and the chain containing the link 34.

Up to this time the wide faced pinion 42 is loose on its shaft 40. This permits the gear 37 to be screwed upon the hub ofthe index plate until the bosses 38 and 39 are in the position shown in Fig. 10. When this is completed, the pinion 42 is secured to shaft 40 by the pin or set screw 57, and the screw 27 is inserted in a boss 26 adjacent to the projection 35.

The size and strength of the spring 22 is calculated so that if it balances the weight of the curtain at one position, it will balance it at other positions, but will have a slightly superior force when the curtain is at its highest position. This highest position is conveniently determined by the last slat of the curtain coming in contact with same stop. Under the conditions just recited, the curtain stays permanently at its highest position, but may be moved downward by hand.

When there is an occurrence of heat sufficient to melt the link 34, the weight 33 drops to release the hook 31, and this permits lever 29 to drop and free the index plate by removing the projection 35 from the boss in which it was inserted. As the spring 22 was put under tension by turning the index plate in one direction, the release of that plate by the removal of the projection 35 permits the spring to move the plate in the reverse direction to release some of the tension which holds the curtain up. But the boss 38 on the index plate is in contact with the boss 39 on the gear 37, and the movement of the plate in the direction of the adjacent arrow of Fig.

10 carries the gear with it.

But the gear 37 is in mesh with the pinion 42 which is secured to pinion 41 thru the shaft 40, and the pinion 41 is in mesh with gear 15 of the curtain-carrying spool. The result is that the spool is driven in the same direction that the index plate moves, and this is the direction which unrolls the curtain. In this operation the tension of the spring 22 is gradually released because the gearing is such that the angular velocity of the index plate is greater than the angular velocity of the spool.

This tension releasing movement of the index plate is finally brought to rest by the screw 27 coming into contact with the rear end 36 ofjthe' 'leve'r 29. f By-the time that this has occurred, the curtain has been. unrolledto a considerable extent, and the Weight of the depending part of the curtain is sufhcient to. overcome thereduced tension of the spring 22, and the curtain-continues to fall until it strikes the floor or-the slat 54 becomes stopped inthe guide 50 as before described. .In addition to the added curtain weight and reduced spring tension,-the stoppage of the index plate occurs when the spool and curtain arein lowering movement, and the momentum of parts serves to keep them in motion.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a curtain carrier, an adjustable device, and means for holding and releasing the adjustable device, of a spring under tension and having its ends connected to the carrier and the adjustable device respectively, gears alsoconnecting the carrier and the adjustable device, and tension means operative by the spring and thru the adjustabledevice and gears to cause the carrier to move in a spring winding direction when the adjustable devicemoves in a spring unwinding direction.

2. A curtain carrier, a spring therefor, a tension applying device for the spring, gears connecting the tension device to the carrier, and means operated by the weight of a curtain on the carrier to release the tension device from the gears.

3. In a device of the class described, an index plate provided with connections for windlng a spring, a spring to be wound, means for holding the plate at any position, and a gear having a screw connection to said plate and another connection to said spring,

said parts being such that upon release and subsequent stoppage of the plate the gear will move axially with respect to the plate.

4. A spring under tension, gears of different sizes connected to opposite ends of said spring, a shaft supported adjacent to said gears, pinions secured to the shaft and in continual mesh with said gears, and means operative by the driving of the gears to release one gear from said spring.

5. A' spring under tension, gears of different sizes connected to opposite ends of said spring, a pair of pinions secured together and continually meshing with said gears, and a thermally releasable holding device for restraining the spring from actuating said gears.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination, with a barrel, a curtain thereon, a spring supporting the weight of the curtain, and a holding device for retaining the spring under tension, of a train of gears extending from the barrel to the holding device, said gears being always in mesh and serving to permit the curtain to be raised and lowered by hand Without disturbing said holding de- V106.

7. The combination with a curtain-carrying spool, a' curtain thereon, a spring under tension and serving to support the Weight of the curtain, and a holding device for retaining such tension, of a gear having a projection normally in contact with a projection on said holding device, and a train of gears extending from the first mentioned gear to said spool.

SAMUEL P. SMURR. 

